Daily Yellowstone journal., 1887-06-26

@a&L 49, ~
When we fired, the little fugitive threw
himself on the ground and remained
there till the firing ceased. When he saw
that our shots were directed at his pur-
and not at him, he rose from the
ground and ran toward us again, still
holding up his hands as an earnest ap-
peal not to shoot. As he came nearer,
and we were wondering what it all
meant, the general, who was looking at
him through the glass, exclaimed: at Is
a white child;'' and, sure enough, as he
approached we could all zee that. He
came up to us slowly and hesitatingly,
as though he was fearful as to what kind
of a reception would be given him. John
told him to come on and not be afraid,
and we went out to him and there we
saw the strangest and most pitiful little
object that ever met human eyes. He
wasn't larger than a 6-year old boy. His
body had a starved and emaciated look,
and his face showed sorrow and suffer-
ing. His hair was long, matted and
faded from exposure to the sum-. His big
blue eyes tearfully appealed to us for our
friendship. John took him in his strong
arms and carried him to the ranch. All
the way he talked to him, but the little
fellow only shook his head. One Of the
trappers said: These Indians are Sioux;
try him in that lingo" So John asked
him all about his captivity, where the
Indians got him, how long he had been
with them and what his name was, but
he only knew that they called him Little
Coyote and that he had been with
them a long time, but not always, and
that they beat HIM, starved him and made
him watch the horses all night when 1t
was dark and cold, and when the wolves
howled so loud, and he shuddered
as he told it. The first thought of John
was to feed the starved boy, and he took
him to the dining room, where he ate
ravenously. In the other room the trap
pers and officers were discussing how the
Indians got him. and his escape from
them. The mother had brought the baby
out and placed it in the little cradle.
When the little fellow had eaten all that
was prudent for him to have at one time,
but not all he wanted by a good deal,
John brought him out. The moment he
saw the mother all his timidity left him.
He went up to her, attempted to take
hold of her, and his whole action indi-
Gated the expectation that she would take
him in her arms; but just then his eyes
took in the baby. He looked at her a
moment, knelt down, took one little hand
in his, devoured the little face with an
eager look; then his little lip quivered,
his body trembled, and he broke out in
sobs, as though his heart was breaking
II was a pitiful scene. The mother
sobbed as hard as he did, the tears rolled
down Johns cheeks, and the general,
who hadn't shed a tear for thirty years,
choked up, and discovered a sudden
necessity for looking out for Indians.
The old trappers, also, thought the In.
dams might be coming, and they followed
the general out doors. When the little
fellows grief had exhausted itself, he
looked up and said in Sioux, Saint you
my mother, and amt this my babyr''
John hadn't the heart to tell him no, SC
he said. Il don't know exactly. Maybe
they are. Did you have q mother and
baby like these?" .'Yes," he said, '.but
l always thought they killed them, they
said they did, and l am so glad they
didn't" For answer to all this, the
mother put her arm around him, stroked
the long tangled hair, and said, II will
be your mother, you poor, motherless
boy" He only understood the Low.
ing action, and he fully believed that
he had again found those whom alone he
had remembered through his long captiv-
ity. He chung to them as though he was
afraid he would lose them again if he left
Them for a moment. At night he fell
asleep by the side of the cradle, and John
put him on a bed Of warm blankets and
robes, in M corne Of the room. The
mother brought a soft pillow, kissed the
pinched face, bent her head and asked
God to bless the poor homeless wait. We
put out guards to prevent a surprise,
looked to our guns, and to the block door:
and windows, and went to bed early. II
is sure that some, and perhaps all of us,
dreamed of better things that night than
we had thought of for years. In the
morning when we woke Little Coyote
was looking wofully at the empty cradle
and the empty chair beside it. John told
him that the mother and baby were still
asleep, but would soon be up and out,
which put the first smile on his sad face
we had seen. The little fellow wa.
washed, had his hair cut and combed, ant
the mother made a suit for him out Of
Johns clothes, all of which almost trans
formed him. We stayed three or foul
days. A party of us made a reconnois
anc to the spring in the bluffs and found
the Indians gone south, al we presumed
to the Arkansas river for the winter. They
made a treaty with the government in the
autumn that left nothing to fear from
them. There were frequent discussions
about what name the little fellow should
have. Almost everybody, in want of a
better one, had called him Little
Coyote" as the Indians had.
The mother Indignantly protested
against that, but once used in connection
with him it stuck to him as long as W,
knew him.
When our party left for the fort tn,
general offered to take Little Coyote ant
care for him; but he chung to the mothei
and the baby and looked so appealingl,
10 them that John said, "Oh! there j
plenty of room here, and grub too, an,
it will seem kind OF lonesome withou
him." So we left HIN there.
We heard from him often. He grew
like a weed and became a ''handsom'
boy" SO John said. He made himsel
useful around the ranch herding stool
and doing whatever else anybody coult